Study Shows There Is Virtually No Place on Earth Without Air Pollution

According to the first global air pollution survey, only 0.18% of the earth’s surface and 0.001% of the world’s population live at pollution levels that the World Health Organization (WHO) considers safe.

This work, the first in the world to measure PM2.5 particulate pollutants, shows that air pollution levels have declined in Europe and North America over the past 20 years, while those in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America and Run have increased.

For decades, the lack of air pollution monitoring stations has made it impossible to obtain data on local, national and global exposure to PM2.5, the most harmful microparticles to environmental health.

Now, for the first time, a team of scientists led by Yumin Guo of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, has mapped the evolution of PM2.5 over the past two decades, the results of which will be published this Monday in the Lancet Planetary Health, according to Efe.

In conducting the study, the team used traditional air quality monitoring observations, satellite-based weather and air pollution detectors, and statistical and artificial intelligence methods to more accurately estimate global PM2.5 concentrations.

The study details that, despite a slight reduction in the number of days with high PM2.5 exposure globally, in 2019 more than 70% of days continued with PM2.5 concentrations above 15 µg/m³. [microgramas por metro cúbico].

Only in South and East Asia did daily PM2.5 concentrations exceed 15 µg/m³ on more than 90% of days.

In addition, Australia and New Zealand experienced a sharp increase in the number of days with high PM2.5 concentrations in 2019.

Globally, the average annual PM2.5 level from 2000 to 2019 was 32.8 µg/m3, according to the study.

These data, in contrast to the 2021 WHO guidelines, show that only 0.18% of global land area and 0.001% of the world’s population were exposed to annual exposures below this recommended limit (average annual level of 5 µg/m³) in 2019.

The study also shows different seasonal patterns, such as lower levels of pollution in northeast China and northern India during the winter months (December, January and February) and higher levels of PM2.5 in parts of North America during the winter months. (June, July and August).

“We also observed relatively high levels of PM2.5 air pollution in South America in August and September and in Sub-Saharan Africa in June and September,” Guo added.

For a scientist, knowledge of these data is important because “they provide in-depth knowledge about the current state of air pollution and its impact on human health.”

“With this policy information, public health authorities and researchers can better assess the short-term and long-term health effects of air pollution and develop strategies to mitigate it,” the researcher said.